Beginnings
by Palaemona
Summary: The world is melting together. Like forgotten memories moulded together to create an evolving world. Beginnings are boring. You start off okay, but you begin for a reason. A strong reason that makes you go on. It's hard, making it. And once you get there, you're lost. But you know kid; it's the endings that make it alright.


…

_{beginnings}_

…

…

The world is melting together. Like forgotten memories moulded together to create an evolving world.

She's escaped from the island her family all make their lives upon. She finds a small apartment, and sets it to life. It's quiet, high above the roaring streets and the world of benders and non-benders. Her world is filled with the beat of the city, and the softness of her breathing. She likes to pretend her world is serene, lost to the depths of the ocean.

But the truth still remains. Her door has locks upon locks, and her windows remain sealed. Shadows crawl and writhe across the room, and her books and scrolls are scattered over the desk. She's terrified of the being within her, locking it away.

She's an air bender.

Something sacred. Something that should be sealed away behind glass for the world to view and abuse. She's an outsider, shunted to the side by political gains. She's a loner, forgotten because of her beliefs.

She's proud though, as she teaches history. The history of the air. Of the heavens. Of her people.

No one really visits her. Her father is hurt of her abandoning the Air Nomads. Her mother is still busy looking after the others. Her siblings are all locked away on the island, living happily.

Korra though, Korra makes things different.

"Beginnings are boring. You start off okay, but you begin for a reason. A strong reason that makes you go on. It's hard, making it. And once you get there, you're lost. But you know kid; it's the endings that make it alright."

…

_{fairytales}_

…

Most stories begin happily. Once upon a time, they might say, as the drift out. Words that are inked with eternity. Her story begins slow, watching from the outside as the world revolved. Her existence of meaningless actions broken by the arrival of the Avatar.

The Avatar was brilliantly colourful. Her hair was streaked by the sun, and skin darkened by the North. Her eyes were a kaleidoscope of life, brilliant blues with subtle greens. Her movements were powerful, summoning fire and sculpting the earth. She made water bow to her, and dominated everything.

Everything but the heavens, but that was fine.

Korra began to subtly teach her she didn't need to master the entire world to solve the riddle. She didn't need all the pieces to make out the puzzle. That rules were made by those seeking perfection.

She also resented her, a touch.

She was a fairy tale, brought to life. She was a being of eternity living before them all. Her world, her ending was decided. She was hero, and she would bring peace. And she would succeed, because the good guys always win.

Jinora isn't a being of importance. She's just a single being revolving around the world.

But that's fine. She can make it out just fine in the end.

"It's nice out. Shouldn't waste you day in here." Korra mused from where she splayed herself out of the couch.

Jinora was bent over several thick books, and was scribbling unconnected words that flowed together. "Have to finish these papers."

"You've been working on them for like the past few weeks. Take a break. It'll come to you later."

"Maybe later."

Korra sighed. She lifted a foot in the air. "C'mon kid. How are you going to find your fairy tale when you won't even leave your apartment?"

Jinora's eyes darted to the single rose in the vase sitting by the window. She smiled, a slight blush rising to her cheeks. "Guess you can show me somewhere fun?"

"Fun? I'm the master of fun," Korra scoffs.

Of course Korra is the master. She's mastered the entire world.

…

_{enraged}_

…

It's when the streets darken and the winds die, things change.

Her world is ruled by borders.

But her borders can be torn apart and shattered, leaving her numb and cold against reality.

"Air bender," they spit at her feet, but she says nothing. They have the mark of the Amon branded into flesh. They carry the beliefs that nearly had her killed. They stalk her, following her through the streets. She knows it, but makes little attempt to stop them.

"Aang should never have survived the storm." She doesn't know her grandfather. Their words hold little meaning to her.

"You're good for nothing. You can't fight with air."

She can. She will. She's able.

They strike her first, hand against flesh. She doesn't dodge it like she's been trained to. She doesn't dance around the attacks like her instincts tell her to. She doesn't flee; she doesn't scatter away into the wind.

She smirks. She doesn't hold her breath, nor does she shift through her emotions to find the _right_ one her father would be pleased with. No. she unleashed a whirlwind, sending them flying against rock walls. They crumple like broken dolls, beaten into submission by a single blow. The rage is still building within, and she hates the world for what it has created.

She denies her training, and takes the opponent on like an Earth Bender. She shifts her weight, feeling the power build within. Like Korra had done so many times, and she sends wind rippling across the cobble street. It attacks with rage, flinging them even further.

She feels proud.

…

_{artist}_

…

She scripts words out with dark ink. Her words are worlds apart, torn with sacrifice and knowing.

"Are you going to write all day?" Her companion asks, leaning forward.

"Yeah. I guess, anyways."

A cup of coffee separated the two, along with a stack of pages. "What is this, anyways?"

Her words swirl across the paper, like ripples in water. It leaves a trail of hidden desire behind it, like ashes after the raging fire. "Just rambles. I don't really remember."

"It's like an art,"

Jinora smiles at the companion. "I guess that'd make me an artist."

"Don't guess, be everything that you are."

…

_{lustful}_

…

She leads her to her own apartment. They're silent, clasping hands tightly. Her skin is soft, so unlike the roughened hands of boys.

She smells like jasmine and ash, and Jinora can't calm her racing heart. Her trembling hands managed to maneuver the keys into the locks, and opened the door to allow her in.

"Are you sure about this," Jinora whispered, words falling free. She's trembling with both fear and love, grasping hands with the other one.

"I'm sure. Are you?"

She smiled. "I think I'm ready, Ursula."

"Don't think," she breathed softly. "Just be."

They lock the door behind them, sealing the outer world from one another. They disappear into her stunningly bright bedroom, and they gently fall into one another.

She's falling up, and she can't stop. She feels weightless and breathless and unstoppable.

She wants to say it's nothing but lust. Deny the attraction. The feelings.

But everything is there. Hidden away.

Love.

…

_{denial}_

…

Her mother doesn't follow her out. Nor do her siblings. Her father's words fall harshly still, scorning her. "You have a duty as an air bender. You shouldn't be playing games like this, but making more Air Benders. The world needs them."

She seethes and hates, blinking back angry tears.

"C'mon kid. He's just surprised." Korra calls, walking behind her. "And being a prick."

Her final comment makes her lips twitch slightly.

"He's a jerk. How can he just put it like that? It's my duty to enslave myself to making children? Air benders? You don't understand! I have to live my entire life perfectly, because it's what the world expects!" Her angry words fall out of her mouth, dripping in venom and pain. Korra knows. Korra understands. She regrets them, after she says them. Korra shrugs.

"I know how it feels. You forget. I was given away by my family to become an icon of the world." Her words are numbing, and she shivers from the denial of her family.

"Do you ever regret it?" Jinora whispers, crossing her arms tightly over her chest.

"Sometimes. Sometimes I wished I disappeared into the North, and went on my own. Other times, I wished I went to the Earth Kingdom-not the Republic City. But then I remember." Korra smiled slightly, words ringing with bitterness.

"Remember what?"

Korra smirked. "It's how you finish the story that counts. So what if you don't play by the rules, or make a few mistakes along the way? End the story with a bang, and that's all that counts."

She could deny her father's words hadn't hurt her. She could deny the loneliness that was consuming her soul. She could deny Ursula.

But she couldn't.

Denial wasn't her time.

…

_{memories}_

…

_She remembered stumbling into the temple, staggering under the strain of the night. Her robes were ruffled, and her hair was lost. A smear of blazing red was stretched across her cheek, and her mother was fussing over her. _

"_Jinora! What happened to you?" _

"_Are you alright? Were you attacked?" Her father's words were strong. _

_She can't help but laugh, tilting her head back. She wiped the lipstick free from her cheek, rolling her eyes. "Just lipstick, mum." The perfume cloaks her, and the scent of roses and frost fills her senses. _

"_Are you drunk?" Her father's words are bristled with angered. _

_The memories of cactus juice filled her. "No. I'm just having fun." Her smile wiped away. She stiffened. _

"_You are being a disgrace." _

"_Really, Tenzin! We can deal with this in the morning." Pema hissed. _

_Jinora frowned. "I'm a disgrace? Because I failed to give a damn about the Air Benders? I wish I don't have bending!" _

_Korra stepped into the room. "You're home late." _

"_Whatever." _

"_You wanna talk about it?"_

"_No." _

"_Whatever. I'm here if you need it."_

…

_{fear}_

…

She never really noticed. Not right away. It was subtle. A slow overtaking of Korra. Wiping her away from the living.

The thinness of the face. The boniness of her wrists. The paleness of her skin. The slight tremors. "I'm fine. Just a little tired. All these Avatar duties and stuff. Relax. Tell me about your date last night."

She tried to pick at the subject, but the clammy hand would enclose her own. Silence would grow, and she would relent.

Mako and Bolin worried, circling her like hawks for the first sign of weakness. The family clustered around her. Jinora just waited.

It was a growing fear though, that overtook her. She dived into books and scrolls of healing and nursing. Nothing came to the surface.

"Korra. You need to go to the hospital."

"Nah, I'm cool. How 'bout you and I check out a Pro-Bending match? And get some Fire Rice afterwards? Maybe we'll grab a bottle of Cactus Juice for some fun? I found the best place down by the bay. You'd love it."

Jinora couldn't lose Korra.

…

_{intensity}_

…

The funeral was intense.

Many came. Strangers. Unknown people. Paid their respects to the dead savior of them all, and left with little regrets. Little tears.

Jinora came. She came robed in blue. Her feet were slippered by the redness of the Fire Nation, of a string of green was tied around her neck.

"You're showing a disregard to the Nomads." Tenzin muttered disdainfully.

She blinked away tears as she caught sight of the coffin sealed away. "I'm only here for Korra."

"You are family."

"You shunned me."

"You made a mistake."

"One that I'll never regret."

Make comes by and clasps her hand tightly. "Tenzin. Korra is dead. Is this really a place?" Red eyes glared, swollen with grief.

He scoffed. "The way she hides from the world these days, how often will I get a chance to show her redemption?"

"You can take your redemption and show it up your-"

Her feelings become intense, but even more so when Ursula arrived. They embrace, tightly holding one another. She finally cries, grief flowing through her.

"_You know, kid. You got a chance in this crazy world. When the world kicks you down, you get right back up and punch it between the eyes, got it?" _

…

_{hidden}_

…

She travels alone.

She hides the truth. She says she's non-bender. She gains sympathy. She goes to the Fire Nation, and admires the war torn land. She wanders the Earth Kingdom, and travels the underground caverns. The North and the South beckon her, because they are Korra's roots. She dives into them, greeting the frozen lands with grief and acceptance.

She returns, of course. Weary and older. She returns to Ursula with open arms, and the hold tightly to one another.

She hides though, the pain of the world. Burying it deep within her.

Her name is Jinora.

She is Avatar's Aang's granddaughter.

Avatar Korra was her protector.

She's the perfect outsider.

"_You're gonna go far. You got a mind, and you got common sense." _

The world's a big empty place, and they're not much of a place for her.

…

_{numb}_

…

They killed her.

She buried Ursula in the rain, with the heavens breaking open.

She screams murder, and declares vengeance.

She hunts the murderers and slaughters them with wind.

…

_{trialed}_

…

She's judged. Condemned. Locked away. They burn her belongings and shred her Air Nomad clothes. She doesn't mind. She's better off in the end.

She remembers Korra. The way her eyes were so pained before she died. The way she moved with victory. The way she paved the way with determination, and led them with her.

She remembers Ursula, and remembers the gentle memories. The fragments of thoughts and words flowing within her. The moments together.

She hates and loves and cries and laughs, weeping with joy.

…

_{beginnings}_

…

A pair of brilliant eyes peer up at her, blinking. "They say you can teach me Air Bending," she calls softly through the bars. The next Avatar.

She isn't Korra. Nor is she Aang.

She's a being of revolution and beginnings.

"You sure you wanna start down this path, kid?" She calls back, voice hoarse.

A familiar smile flickers across her face.

"Just trying to get to the end."

…

_{final bow}_

…

She dies free.

She's living in Ursula's land, safe within the Fire Nation. Her hair had faded to white, and her eyes became dull with age. She accepted death freely, and sank into the depths of it.

She smiles. Her life was long and lonely, but it had been people like Ursula and Korra that made it something to be proud of. The end was bitter, because it was the only think separating Jinora from love.

She's buried within the ground and becomes forgotten.

She's fine with that.

…

…

…

**Random. Yeah. Totally different. I don't usually do fem slash and stuff, but I dunno. I just got really into making this one. And yeah. I don't like Tenzin. Haven't written anything in a while, seeing as how my computer isn't working and my internet seems to not work. **

**Anyways, cheerio. **


End file.
